Two for One
by LBellersen
Summary: *Re-write of A Soul Under Mortar Fire* Joann and Charlotte are twins, and younger sisters to Herbert Sobel. They join paratroopers and Easy Company, and I suck at summaries. Liebgott/OC, Nixon/OC and friend-zoned Luz
1. Chapter 1

_**So I gave a twist to my other BoB story, so maybe I will ACTUALLY FINISH THIS STORY. There will eventually be pairings for my OCs, but I don't know who it'll be yet, I keep changing my mind. **_

**_Please let me know if there are any mistakes, I try my hardest to keep it relatively accurate, but it is fanfiction. _**

**_I do not own Band of Brothers, if i did i wouldn't be broke. I have nothing but respect for the real men of BoB, and the characters depicted are based off of the book and mini-series. _**

Chapter 1:Introductions

Joann's POV

If you had asked us at the beginning of the war if we thought both of us would make it through unscathed, we would have said no in a heartbeat. I would have said that I wouldn't make it past day one of boot camp, and she would have said the same of herself. But by some miracle we both made it through boot camp, and then D-day, but only one of us would live to see VE day. Her story shouldn't have to be one I have to tell, yet I'll take the burden none-the-less.

We were sisters, fraternal twins, who varied just as much in looks as we did in personality. Charlotte was tall, nearly 5'8", and had long, wavy, light brown hair that she usually kept in a bun at the base of her neck. She was, and always will be, the responsible one. Countless times I have relied on her to get me out of the messes I had created. I, on the other hand, was short, barely reaching 5'4". I had dead straight dark brown hair that was always in double French braids. We both shared one attribute: our blue eyes.

But there was a third, older brother. His name was Herbert, and Charlotte and I followed him into the paratroopers and Charlotte even followed him to Officer Candidate School. Of course if you ever brought up OCS, she would sigh and shake her head and change the subject. I never did learn much about what had happened, except for the few things she wrote in her journal while there.

So I guess that means I can no longer put off telling our story any further.

* * *

""Miss Sobel, I hope you realize that enlisting a woman is not something I should take lightly. I understand that with your brother in charge of Easy Company you'll be in capable hands. However, you have no qualifications that make you a necessity for the 506th, or even the 101st." Colonel Sink was attempting to reason with my request to join the 506th.

"Major General Lee did approve my request sir; I know fluent German and French, and basic medical care." I replied with the same information I knew Major General Lee had already told him.

Colonel Sink sighed, "Your brother is training what is going to be the best company in the Regiment. I hope you can live up to his standards as well as mine."

"Sir?"

"I'm placing you in Easy Company, Private Sobel."

"Yes, sir."

"Send your sister in."

I saluted and walked out, nodding to my sister, who gave me a tight smile before heading into Colonel Sink's office herself. I could eavesdrop on their conversation inside from my seat just outside the door.

"Miss Sobel, it says here that you went to OCS, but were denied the ability to graduate as a Lieutenant. Care to explain?"

"Yes, sir, I was denied the title of Lieutenant solely based on the fact that I'm a woman, and while they entertained training me despite this, they didn't see it fit to actually reward me for the work."

"So you did complete Officer Canidate School?"

"Yes sir, I met all the qualifications required to graduate."

"Well, I'm making you a second lieutenant, in Easy Company with your brother and sister. That won't be a problem, will it?"

"Oh no sir, thank you, sir."

"Good, Private McGerter will show you and your sister to your barracks. She'll be with the normal enlisted men, and you'll be with the officers."

"I'm sure we'll be fine sir, thank you very much."

I started cheering in my seat. If anyone deserved to be promoted to lieutenant, it was Charlotte.

"Please remember, and remind your sister, that despite the fact that the commanding officer is your brother, he is still to be treated like any other officer."

"Of course, sir."

She then came out, a smile on her face, and looped her arm in mine while Private McGerter led us to our barracks. He took us to where she would be staying first, and then left.

"Um, hello, I'm 2d Lieutenant Charlotte Sobel, and this is Private Joann Sobel, we've just been assigned to Easy Company." My sister said, speaking out to the two men in front of us. One of them had dark hair and eyes, the other was ginger, and had very bright blue eyes.

"Well, if it isn't little Charlie!" The dark haired man said.

"Lew!" My sister ran to the man, giving him a hug. "I didn't know you joined the paratroopers!"

"So they made you a lieutenant after all?" The ginger said, and my sister pulled out of the hug.

"No, Sink gave me the promotion. Oh, I'm being rude," she turned her attention to me, pulling me by the arm out of the doorway. "Joann, this is Lewis Nixon," she gestured to the dark haired man. "And this is Richard Winters." She said pulling on the sleeve of the ginger. They both shook my hand. "We went through OCS together."

"She was a little feisty one." Lewis added.

"My sister? Feisty? Since when?" Charlotte blushed after Lewis's comment.

"I really wasn't. He's just joking."

"She did give the higher-ups a tough time, though." Winters commented. "Charlie, you can leave your stuff on the cot over there, and then I'll take you two to where Joann and the rest of the men stay." Charlotte dropped her bag off on the bunk, nodding once to Winters before he led us out of there. I caught the look on Nixon's face as we walked out. _Oh god, he's gonna be trouble._

We walked a short ways, weaving in between buildings as Winters pointed out a few things: the mess hall, showers, etc. We finally reached the barracks the men were staying in, and he pushed through the door.

"Listen up," He waited for all the men to quiet down.

"This is 2d Lt. Charlotte Sobel, and Private Joann Sobel. Please treat them with the respect due to them. 2d Lieutenant Sobel will be in charge of First Platoon when Lieutenant Matheson leaves next week." He then turned to face me, "the last cot on the left should be empty, Joann, come to me if you have any problems. Did Sink give you a platoon or squad yet?"

"No sir, he did not."

"OK, you'll be in second platoon with me. I'll put you with the mortars." He turned back to the men. "Guarnere, Malarkey, come here." I watched as a man with dark hair and an under bite, and another with ginger hair came up to us.

"Yes sir?" The ginger asked.

"Joann, this is Donald Malarkey," the ginger one putting out his hand to shake, "and Bill Guarnere," the dark haired one just nodded. "They will be assisting you with learning how to take care and fire a mortar, since you've missed that part of training. I'll talk with Lieutenant Sobel about a time and place for this and get back to you on it. For now I'll leave you two to get to know the men." He nodded before ducking out the door.

All eyes were on us. "So, hi." My sister started.

_**Please review, they make my day and keep my motivated :) I don't know when i'll be able to get another chapter out, but i'll try my best. **_


	2. Chapter 2

**_So chapter 2, huh. _**

**_I know, realistically, that the men were billeted by platoon, but i had the entire company in one barrack because it is so much easier. _**

**_Also when i just say "Sobel" I mean Herbert, unless i give a specific ranking. I'll call the girls by their first names for the most part :) _**

Chapter 2: Feeling Good...not

Charlotte's POV

"So as Lieutenant Winters said, I'm Joann, and this is Charlotte and…" my sister trailed off after the surprised and angry and confused looks on the men's faces didn't go away. I put my hand on her shoulder, letting her know I was still there.

"So you're related to Lieutenant Sobel?" A light brown, almost blonde haired guy asked. He looked annoyed, and I began to worry. What if these guys were just like the ones at Officer Candidate School?

"Uhh, yeah. He's our older brother." My sister added.

"That's just great. So not only do we have an ass of a CO, but now his two baby sisters have come along to play." It was the same man.

"Ah, come off it Cobb, they don't seem to be like him at all." A shorter man, with dark hair that stuck up in the front stopped the other man, who I now knew was Cobb. "Hi, I'm George Luz." He greeted us. He started introducing us to the men, but I could not for the life of me remember who was who. All the names and faces swirled around. Thank god their names were on their ODs.

"Well, it's getting pretty late, so Joann, if you're going to be ok here, I'm going to head back to my barracks."

"Yeah I'll be fine," she looked overwhelmed, and without a doubt I knew I did too.

I nodded to the men, who shouted a collective "Goodnight" before heading out and locating my wood-enforced tent. Luckily, I met Winters half-way there.

"Oh, good you didn't get lost."

"Yeah well, I might be a lot of things, but directionally challenged is not one of them. I would have found it eventually."

He had a teasing grin, "Whatever you say" I just lightly slapped his arm. "Just a heads up, every Saturday morning is inspection, so make sure all your gear is in order."

"Yeah, I'll check it all tonight before I go to bed, thanks." I nodded, following him into barracks.

* * *

It was hot. So unbelievably hot it was ridiculous. And the bugs, mostly mosquitoes, were flying around and tickling our ears and necks in the hot morning. Did I mention it was hot? And we dare not drink from our canteens. We were at the position of attention. Which we were reminded of by my dear older brother, before he went around claiming certain things were dirty, or untidy, or rusty before revoking all of our weekend passes. I was just glad he hadn't put Joann under the spot, she would have argued back, and then the two of us would be kicked out of here.

"Change into your PT gear we're running Curahee."

With those words and a "Fall out Second/First/Third Platoon!" We ran back to our barracks to change out of our ODs.

Curahee was a mountain, or rather a tall hill, that apparently meant "We stand alone." But more realistically, it meant "You're going to die." It was—as Lieutenant Sobel announced to us—three miles up and three miles down.

"What Company is this?" my brother shouted.

"Easy Company!"

"And what do we do?"

"Stand Alone!"

Shortly after these chants transpired, one of the men up front tripped, my brother in all his infinite wisdom, shouted for the men to "not help that man!" Guess he was taking the whole "stand alone" thing a bit too seriously.

"You have thirteen minutes to get to the top of this mountain if you want to serve in the paratroopers." He called out, giving me a pointed glare. "HI-YO SILVER!"

Watching my brother run was probably the most entertaining thing ever. He ran flat footed, and the result was him waddling around looking like a duck. I finally made it all the way up to the top of the mountain.

"…That may be good enough for the rest of the 506, but that is not good enough for Easy Company!" Sobel was calling out as I smacked the plaque at the top of the mountain. "I expect more from you _second _lieutenant Sobel." Luckily for him I was too tired to come up with a witty comeback. He was also lucky that Winters was there encouraging us, or I would have done something worse.

My sister was just a bit farther down the mountain, running with a few of the men from second platoon. Including Liebgott, one of the few whose name I remembered, who had gotten caught earlier in the day with a "rusty bayonet." I gave her an encouraging smile, which she returned.

When we had all reached the bottom, the eldest Sobel had us all stand in formation, and then ran in between us all, yelling at us all to "STAY STILL!" before finally ordering us to fall out.

"So he's always been this bad, eh?" a man with dark hair and eyes, and a strong, square jaw. It also sounded as though he had a philly accent, but I could be wrong there.

"Well he went to Culver Academy for high school, which was the next county over, and he is five years older than me. So I guess so, I mean we really didn't hang out or anything when we were little either."

"Damn. Oh, hey I'm Bill Guarnere, by the way. I know we were introduced yesterday, but you looked pretty dazed." The second man said, and nudged a red-head standing next to him.

"Oh yeah, and I'm Don Malarkey."

"Yeah, I remember you guys, you're helping out my sister with the mortar, right?"

"Yep," Malarkey said.

We then ran through a grueling obstacle course. Over, under, through. We all were panting, cursing under our breaths. My sister appeared to be surviving, getting help from the men around her when needed. From there Winters led us in calisthenics, while Sobel seemed to disappear. These were just push-ups, jumping jacks, sit ups, etc. We all pushed through it, Winters giving us welcome encouragement and corrections.

Finally it was lunch, a welcome break from the torture we were currently going through. The food was unrecognizable, maybe it was some kind of meat, who knows.

"Jesus, what is this stuff." Bill asked nobody in particular. I was sitting with the men instead of the officers in order to get to know them better.

"If it's anything like what was at OCS, just drown it in ketchup, so you can barely taste it." I advised, getting amazed looks from the men.

"Now how come none of you have ever thought of that, especially you Web, you're always bragging about how smart you are." George Luz said in a fake-anger sort of way, pointing at a dark haired man across the table.

I was interrupted from watching the situation unfold by a tap on the shoulder. "I'm Eugene Roe." A man, with dark hair and eyes, but an overall calm and soothing demeanor said in a Cajun accent.

"Charlotte."

"Where are you guys from, Charlotte?" He asked.

"Chicago, born and raised," I said with a smile, "you?"

"Louisiana."

My sister then came and sat with us, and the boys started questioning her.

"So why the hell did you join the paratroopers Joann?" George asked.

"Well, thanks to Sobel I had an in, and jumping out of an airplane sure beats cooking and cleaning." I responded.

"You cooked? Please tell me it was nothing like this slop." Guarnere commented.

"Nah, she made the best falafels in the neighborhood." I replied sarcastically.

"I would kill for one of those deep-fried goodness right now." Liebgott added, plopping down on the bench next to Joann. "I see today you are still sporting the ever popular –what is this called?" He asked her pointing to her hair, which like last night, was in two French braids.

"This, my dear apprentice, is called a double French braid. But hey, I thought you were a barber?" she teased lightly.

"My dad was not me, I mean, I cut people's hair, but I didn't style it or whatever." He responded.

I was glad my sister was getting along well with the men, so that somebody could always be there to watch over her when I couldn't. I had, since we were little, taken care of my sister. My dad was a work-aholic, my mom was always busy with various social clubs, and my brother was never the brotherly type, so I became her surrogate-father/mother/older brother. Which annoyed her, because I was always telling her to be careful and what-not.

After lunch we were blessed with classroom lectures. Today's topics were map and compass reading and codes and signaling. They were fairly interesting, I already knew a lot of the stuff from OCS, but Colonel Sink wanted me to sit through them just in case.

* * *

That night, however we were not blessed.

"I'm gonna say something," Bull Randleman, the ridiculously tall man in front of me suddenly said. We'd been marching in the dark for what felt like forever, not allowed to drink from our canteens, and surprisingly, missing Lt. Sobel and his "motivational" questions. Or maybe we were missing having a physical thing to place our anger upon, unlike now where it was just festering inside of each of us without a specific target.

"To who?" George Luz responded to Bull's outburst, glancing at him with a confused face.

"Liuetenant Winters!" Bull called out.

"What is it?" Winters responded.

"Permission to speak, sir."

"Permission granted."

"Sir, we've got nine companies, sir."

"We do."

"How come we're the only company marching every Friday night, full pack, in the pitch dark?" Bull asked.

"Why do you think, Private Randleman?" Winters asked. I could tell he was curious about the answer that was to come.

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Was Bull's reply.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Private Randleman." He paused. "He just hates you." Winter's answer caused a few of the men to snicker.

"Thank you, sir!" Randleman replied.

We continued marching, tired and bored. Not five minutes after Bull and Winter's conversation, I watched as Liebgott flicked my sisters braids, two rows in front of me. She gave him a smile, and he played innocent. It would have been adorable to watch if this wasn't the army, and if I wasn't her sister.

We finally made it back to camp where Lieutenant Sobel was waiting not-so-patiently for us. "Lieutenant Winters I want canteens out of belts with the caps unscrewed." Sobel ordered Winters.

"Easy Company, canteens out and open," Winters relayed to us in a more concise manner than Sobel.

"On my command they will pour the contents on the ground."

"On the CO's command you will upend your canteen."

"Now Lieutenant," Sobel ordered.

"Pour them!"

We all flipped over our canteens, eyes trained forward, but every last one of us yearning to reach out and drink some of the water cascading down.

Christenson had apparently drunk from his canteen, and Lt. Sobel was having a fit over it. It would have been entertaining if I wasn't so tired. Of course, it wasn't Christenson I was laughing at, but rather my brother's ridiculous over-reaction.

We all watched helplessly as Lt. Sobel berated Winters, I couldn't focus on what he was saying, however, as the remainder of my energy was being spent trying to remain upright. Luckily we were soon dismissed and I was able to set my stuff down, take my boots off my aching feet, and fall asleep still dressed.

_**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING: **_

_**NOW THAT YOU HAVE MET CHARLOTTE AND GOTTEN A PEAK INTO HER MIND I WANNA KNOW WHO YOU THINK SHE SHOULD BE PAIRED WITH! EVERY CHARACTER THAT GETS A VOTE (JUST LEAVE A REVIEW WITH YOUR VOTE) WILL GET A LITTLE PIECE JUST THE TWO OF THEM BEFORE ANY FINAL DECISIONS. HOWEVER, DON'T FORGET PEOPLE LIKE BUCK AND BABE WHO COME IN LATER. SO YEAH JUST LEAVE A REVIEW WITH YOUR VOTE, AND I'LL WORK ON GETTING HER BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH EVERYONE SO YOU CAN MAKE AN EDUCATED DECISION. **_****

_**You can stop reading now if you'd like**_

_**So there ya go, hope you liked it. I've been working on being more descriptive and creative. But i know my connections are pretty crappy. **_

_**To answer some reviews (for all to see):**_

_**LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX: I hope this hasn't disappointed! I actually have not a clue who Charlotte will be paired with, but in case you couldn't tell, Joann will be paired with Liebgott :) Also, as you found out here, I will be alternating twin POV each chapter. I'm really bad at showing emotion, but I've been trying to work on it :) Thank you for the review. **_

_**babydake93: Thank you :) Hope you enjoyed it. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Joann's POV

A few exhausting weeks later we came into our barracks after PT to find our foot lockers' contents splayed all over our cots and the floor.

"God damn," Joe Toye comment from his position behind me.

"Hey I heard Sobel was—" George let out a whistle as he came pushing and shoving into the room. "What happened here?"

"A tornado came through. What about Sobel?" I questioned.

"He's been promoted to Captain." George replied, still staring at the barracks.

A collective sigh ran through the group at George's news. " I guess we should get cleaning." Guarnere suggested. I nodded, sighing again as I began placing my "feminine products" back where they belonged.

The next day was met with good graces on Captain Sobel's part. We had a light PT morning and expected classroom instruction that afternoon. If we only knew…

I was sitting across from Grant watching all the men shovel food into their mouths.

"Why aren't you eating?" Liebgott asked.

"I don't like tomato sauce." I replied, shrugging.

He gave me a confused look. "You freak of nature, if don't want it, I'll take it." He said, reaching for my food.

I swatted his hand away. "No, I'll eat it." I didn't really have the option to be picky, I was starving. Joe looked deflated, but not half a second later he was back to shoveling the noodles down his throat.

But alas, our heaven was shook, causing us all to fall back to Earth as recently-promoted Captain Sobel strode in.

"Orders changed! Get up!" He screamed at us, all of us standing on his order. "Lectures are cancelled! Easy Company is running up Curahee! Move!" We all rushed, hopping over our benches to get out of there before Sobel could add on to our punishment. Our crime? Joining the Army.

On the way to our barracks to change I overheard most of the men cursing his name.

"How is it you're so sweet—" Bill paused when he caught sight of the glare I was sending his way. He gave me one of his ridiculous smiles before continuing, "—and couldn't hurt a fly. And your own kin is the reincarnation of the devil?" Bill finished his observation.

"I almost 100 percent sure I was adopted. I mean, we don't even look alike, Herbert, Charlie and I."

"Yeah, you sure are a hell of a lot prettier than Sobel." He gave me a wink. "But your sister takes the cake." I shoved into him, earning a shit-eating grin from him. I just rolled my eyes, I could never be mad at him.

Since I had only eaten about a quarter of my spaghetti—in comparison to Hoob who got thirds—the run left me only slightly crampy.

Sobel of course, added to our misery by mocking us, telling us we weren't good enough.

"Private Randleman you look tired. There's and ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill! It can all be over right now, no more pain, no more Curahee, no more Captain Sobel!"

"Private Sobel, you don't belong here. Wouldn't you much rather be home cooking and cleaning for you sweetheart?" It took all my will not to tackle my own brother right there and then. God bless George Luz, though, because he decided to start singing, the rest of us joining in.

We pull upon the risers

We fall upon the grass

We never land upon our feet

We always hit our ass

Hide tidee, Christ almighty

Who the hell are we?

Zim zam, goddamn!

We're Airborne Infantry!

I turned and saw that Captain Sobel had been left in the dust, a look of utter exasperation on his face.

We pull upon the risers

We fall upon the grass

We never land upon our feet

We always hit our ass

Hide tidee, Christ almighty

Who the hell are we?

Zim zam, goddamn!

We're Airborne Infantry!

* * *

We were issued real rifles. Brand new M1's. The boys were excited, all smiles and jokes about how the "Germans better watch out!" We spent the next week learning how to disassemble, reassemble, and clean our rifles. After we were all deemed acceptable, we were allowed on the firing range. There we were taught how to shoot standing, sitting, and from a prone position or something like that. To be honest, as soon as basic was over we all forgot about the specifics, seeing as the only thing that mattered when shooting the enemy was that you shot them before they shot you.

They held a sort of "contest" on the range. It was, in every way shape and form, an accuracy contest. Who could hit the bulls-eye the most often? We were given five rounds, and whoever could get each of the rounds closest to the center and received the most points (each ring was worth decreasing points from the center) was the winner. Shifty easily won, placing every single bullet exactly center, one right after the other. I came in second, surprisingly. Four went directly center, one strayed just a little bit.

They did the same kind of contest with the mortar squads from the company. I was on Malarkey's squad by this time, as the "caller." It was up to me to call out the distance and when to fire.

Our first round hit the first target (there were three dummies, the targets, right in a row). I gave the squad the corrections for the second target.

"HANGING!" Malarkey called out, placing the round at the mouth of the mortar pipe.

"FIRE!" I responded, and Malarkey dropped the round into the pipe, we all watched as it then popped over our heads and hit the target. We did the same with the third target. The only other squad to hit all the targets was Guarnere's, making Second Platoon the only one with perfect results. With a congratulatory smile from Winters we all left the range with high spirits.

The next day we found ourselves jumping out of a mock plane into a sand pit just few feet below.

"You just broke both your legs Private Gordon." Lt. Sobel said to the man who jumped in front of me. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, sir!" Private Gordon called back. Now it was my turn.

"Stand in the door." Lieutenant Sobel said, not paying attention to who it was.

"Go!"

I jumped, calling out "1000 2000 3000 4000" before landing and rolling over to stand up. I glanced at Sobel, but he completely ignored me and my jump. Realizing this was as close to a compliment I would ever get, I just jogged away to the back of the line.

* * *

Being around the men had really opened my eyes—or rather ears—to a lot of interesting vocabulary. Coming from a very Jewish neighborhood, I was never around people who cursed nearly as much as these men did. If I had a penny for every time Lieb cursed, I'd have enough to buy my daddy a new car, even with the rationing. But it was like that with all the men—constantly cursing. It came with the job. As did the drinking. Whenever we got the chance we'd hang out at the post PX. We all got to know each other really well. So well that we could tell who someone was when they coughed on a night march, could tell who was creeping out of the barracks to take a whizz at night, we could tell who the man in front of us was when he was jumping out of the mock plane by the way he held his rifle. All the little things about everyone was subconsciously stored in our brains, in hopes that someday it would come in handy overseas.

* * *

_**IM SO SORRY I KNOW ITS BEEN LIKE TWO WEEKS. I was on vacation and couldn't find time to sit down and write this :( But it gave me time to really think about where i want this story to go. I really wanted to do a Babe/Charlie but then i realized that a Nixon/Charlie would be WAY more drama-filled and exciting. And George Luz because who doesn't love George Luz? Oh and Joann is still gonna be paired with Liebgott :) **_

_**So some of things that happened aren't quite the way the show had them, because i decided to go off the order in the book a bit more, and yeah well, this is what you get. The whole contest didn't really happen, i just wanted to add that because it seemed fun :) Otherwise i am trying to be as accurate as possible as to what each person did and what platoon/squad they would be in and therefore who they would be closest friends with. I know i'm slow when it comes to working with relationships, both with friends and romantic partners, but trust me i'm working on it. **_

_**I'm still not done. If y'all would like, i can add lyrics to the beginnings of chapters, i know some fanfics have that and Idk if y'all like it or not, but i wouldn't mind doing so. Send me a review with your opinion. **_

**_OK, i'm done ranting, please review! They motivate me and make me happy on the inside (and outside)! :) _**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Charlotte's POV

Thanksgiving was coming up, and I found myself in charge of 1st Platoon, at least until Lieutenant Mathenson's replacement arrived, and then I would become said replacement's assistant. However, this may be a while, so who knows what could happen between now and then.

As usual, we were running up Curahee on an otherwise beautiful Wednesday. Sobel was pushing us harder than usual knowing we would have tomorrow off. When the run was over, and the men (and Joann) had been excused, Sobel kept platoon leaders back to talk to them.

"Lieutenants, tomorrow Major Strayer had ordered the start of a two-day field mission. Please have your men ready with full packs at 0600." He announced in his whiny voice. I tried not to show my displeasure.

"Sir, hasn't Colonel Sink allowed the regiment a day off?" Nixon asked.

"Yes he has, but Major Strayer has planned a two-day field mission instead. That is all, dismissed." We all saluted and left.

"Jesus Christ. How is it that we ended up with crazy superiors?" I asked nobody in particular.

Nixon responded, "I don't know how I ended up with them, but I'm pretty sure you volunteered to work under Sobel, so at least you knew what you were getting into."

"Yeah well, I would like to switch battalions. I heard Able company has a nice CO."

"So who wants to tell the men?" This came from Winters.

"I'll do it, they'll take it better from me." I replied.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure they like me best." Nixon gave me a wink.

"They only like you 'cause you're soft." He feigned a hurt look.

"I'm not soft!"

"Jesus, yes you are! You're like a teddy bear!"

"At least I'm not a hard-ass like you!"

Winters interrupted, "will you two shut up!"

"That's strong language coming from you, Dick." I elbowed him lightly. He didn't get a chance to respond, as we were now at the men's barracks and I had an announcement to make.

"See y'all on the other side?" I said, giving a mock salute as a goodbye, the two men grumbled their goodbyes in response.

I entered the barracks, earning a few confused looks from the men.

"Hey, Charlie, decided you wanted a piece of this?" Luz joked in his usual fashion, gesturing to himself and giving me his ridiculous smile.

"No, sorry Luz," I said quietly, and then louder "Listen up! I've got an announcent!" I waited for the following "Listen Up"s that would come from the NCO's and then the silence which meant everyone was probably dreading my news. "

"Major Strayer has seen fit to schedule a two day field exercise starting tomorrow. You will be up, dressed, and standing at attention with full packs by 0600." The men (and Joann) all sighed and groaned. "Sorry boys, no Thanksgiving turkey."

* * *

The exercise was about as bad as one would think. I'm sure in some ways I guess it was beneficial, but for moral it was about as bad as having a micromanaging boss in an office full of journalists.

The whole exercise was finished up with what Major Strayer referred to as the "Hawg Innards Problem." Pretty much, there were wires stretched across a field, hog innards spread all over the ground, and machine guns firing over the wires. We then crawled under the wires and through the innards. It was all-around an unforgettable experience.

* * *

We all found ourselves watching Private Gordon being yelled at by Lieutenant Sobel. We all cringed and winced with him as if we too were being yelled at. And we all suffered his punishment with him, running up and down Curahee with a full pack and gear. I guess once you roll in a pit of pig-guts with someone you truly become his brother.

But Basic Training was now completed. We had all mastered our own specialties. I was proud to say that my sister, under Malarkey's and Guarnere's care, had become one of the best spotters for mortars in all the regiment. We were all ready to take whatever they threw at us.

This was tested very soon with a 118 mile march to Atlanta. It was all Colonel Sink's idea after he read that the Japanese had done a similar march and set a world record. And Second Battalion was chosen to prove that we could do better than the Japanese. Lucky us.

At 0700 on December 1st, we all headed out, wearing all our gear and carrying all our weapons. Luckily for my sister, she only had to carry the mortar site (a small box with a strap that was thrown over the shoulder), not the mortar tube or base. That was Malarkey's job. Although if my eyes didn't deceive me, she appeared to be carrying Liebgott's machine gun for a short bit on the second day. But that was only Second Platoon.

In my platoon, I had a certain radio man who made it very clear that his radio was heavy as we slogged through back country that first day.

"Private Luz, if you do not stop complaining about your radio, I will see to it that you never take it off." I threatened. That shut him up pretty quick.

Around 2300 hours Major Strayer decided we could stop for the night. The men set up pup tents by squad, and officers were stuck together.

"Hey Charlie, have you gotten chow yet?" Winters came in after checking on the men and asked. I was looking over one of the maps we were given, tracing where we had marched that day.

"Nope, I was about to though. Anything good?"

"Field stoves won't work."

"So that means no." His grimace was all the answer I needed. I sighed before getting up and leaving.

The next day was not better. When we stopped to rest the second night, a few people couldn't even stand.

But finally we made it. 118 miles in 75 hours. Only twelve men hadn't made it, with third platoon of Easy being the only one which didn't have a single man drop out. It led the parade through Atlanta.

Me? I was just glad when we were finally allowed to rest in warmth with decent chow.

* * *

**_So guess what i found out? That my great-uncle was in the 101st! I have no idea what company or battalion he was in, but it's pretty cool. _**

**_Also, I realized that there was only one mortar squad per platoon, but last chapter i wrote that there were two, but lets just pretend that didn't happen, eh? _**

**_Yeah, so i don't really like this chapter. It skips around too much. But i couldn't really focus on it at all. sorry. _**

**_Although this week i did decide how i want to kill off Charlie. (Sorry, but in the beginning i did say it was going to happen) _**

**_So i know i forgot to respond to reviews last chapter, so thanks to Everythingcanadi, LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX, and Crazyforkasey for reviewing chapter 2. andddd for reviewing chapter 3..._**

_**LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX: THANK YOU! I'm glad you liked the chapter. I hope this one didn't disappoint! (but it's pretty crappy so maybe it did) :)**_

_**BoBfan: Don't worry! I wouldn't give up on the story! (Not yet, at least) Dude I love Rick Gomez (as does everybody) i just saw Millionaire Tour, in which he ends up being a total badass, and completely awesome. I recommend you watch it if you haven't already. Leave was absolutely heartbreaking too, but he was amazing in it as well. As was Frank John Hughes (Bill Guarnere). And Ron Livingston (Nixon) was in it as well. Thank you for all the reviews :) **_

_**Please review they make me very happy and i literally squeal and jump around every time i get an email that someone reviewed. they motivate me and give me new ideas so yeah :) **_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Joann's POV

If we thought Toccoa was hot, Fort Benning was even hotter. It was so hot I was afraid I'd be fried up like an egg by the end of each day. Luckily for us though, we got to skip the first stage. So that meant no more meaning-less physical activity. Instead we skipped right to the B-stage. We spent the mornings learning how to fold and pack parachutes. It became monotonous. We all got the tricks down to habit relatively quickly, but still they drilled us with it over and over and over again.

"You know, it would be awfully nice of me to pack Sobel's chute for him, wouldn't it?" Muck said from his position next to be at our joint workspace.

"Yeah, maybe you'll accidently fold it wrong so that when it comes out it'll be a giant mess." I replied.

"And I certainly couldn't have any higher-ups breathing down my back over it, so I'll make sure it looks like you did it. A little sibling trick gone wrong."

"Hey Skip you better watch out! You're giving the she-devil ideas!" This came from Malarkey behind us.

"Yeah, Malarkey! And you're my first target!"

The B stage was over in a week, and we were on to the C stage, where we made jumps from 200-foot towers. After a week of constantly jumping (I swear I was more comfortable in the air than on the ground because of it) we finally moved on to the D-stage. Real jumps.

"So we feel like we're ready to be Army Paratroopers?" The guy in charge asked.

"Yes Sergeant!" We all responded, excited and nervous all at the same time.

The Sergeant went on to discuss all the facts we already knew. No hesitation, five jumps, yadah, yadah, yadah. Too soon we were in the air. For me it should be easy. Throw yourself out of the plane, no biggy.

The planes circled around the DZ, aiming for that 1000 feet and the perfect speed. Finally, when we had reached the optimum conditions we were instructed to "stand up and hook up."

I was seventh in my stick. That meant six people had to go in front of me. I had to wait for six people to jump out before I could. I don't know if I can take that much build-up. I'd rather be the first one out.

But it was eventually my turn, and I stood in the door my hands placed on the outside of the plane to steady myself before-

"GO! GO! GO!"

I took a deep breath before jumping into the unknown. My eyes were closed tight until I felt the parachute open, jerking me up from my dive. Then I was able to enjoy the weightless feeling for just a few seconds before I remembered I still had things to do. So I pulled slightly on my risers, directing myself to a spot of land where nobody else was about to land, and finished the fall very nicely on my ass.

It was all around agreed that jumping out of an airplane was one of the most fun things anybody had ever done. And we were desperate to jump again. The second jump was later that afternoon, the third a few days later, and the fourth on Christmas Eve. We actually got Christmas off (unlike the Thanksgiving fiasco) and the fifth jump was on December 26. We finally got those wings pinned on our chest, each of us feeling like a million bucks (and by bucks I mean dollars, not male deer).

* * *

"1000! 2000! 3000! 4000! 5000! 6000! 7000! 8000! WOOOH!"

I was sitting next to Skip and across from a Mr. Bill Guarnere, who was chugging his beer and taking his jump wings between his teeth at the end. "HI-YO SILVER!"

"Hey, Jo, your turn now," Bill said handing me a beer, "have a drink."

"No way! I don't drink." I said, gesturing to my coca cola.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep."

"Hey Skip, I bet you fifty bucks that we can get little Joann here to drink before the war's out." Bill said.

"Nah, man, why would I take a bet I know I'm gonna lose?" Skip said, thumping me on the back a few times.

I was, like the other men, dressed up in my Class A's that were so new, only a few people had taken the time to sew on their chevrons. I had tried to convince my sister to wear a dress, but she said it "wasn't proper" and that we were in the army now, we had to prove ourselves. A bunch of shit like that. I honestly thought the men wouldn't care if we were dresses and that we had proven ourselves well enough, but I followed what she said. She doesn't take no for an answer.

I was drawn out of my thoughts by Colonel Sink entering. He had some speech prepared. To this day I honestly couldn't remember what was said in it. All I do remember is that it ended with "CURAHEE!" Which had become our official chant.

* * *

"Dance with me Joann." Liebgott nearly begged, giving me his puppy dog look—he knew I couldn't say no. The night was coming to a close, but the men hadn't even thought about ending the party.

"As you wish." I mock curtsied before my placing my hands on his shoulders as his found my waist again. See I had had a slight crush on Joseph Liebgott from the beginning, but nothing could –would—come from it. But dancing with him, even if he was drunk, was a bit of a dream come true. I heard whistles around us and then I was passed to Joe Toye, shattering my little fairytale land.

From there on I was passed along from partner to partner, finding my way back to Liebgott occasionally, Bill a few times, and even George Luz joined in on the fun that was stepping on my feet. Around 2 in the morning we started trickling out of the bar. I led a very drunk Liebgott back, avoiding sloppy kisses from him and other soldiers *cough*—I mean paratroopers—passing by.

* * *

It was a very groggy morning for most, I just laughed at George's cries and grumbles for some to "just shoot me!" and Malarkey rushing to make it to the latrines in time.

"Hey Joann, how come you're not hungover?" A drooping Bill asked.

"Well, my dear Bill, I do not drink." Clearly he didn't remember our conversation from last night.

"What? Why on Earth would you not drink?"

"Well, I'm looking at quite a few fine examples right now." He just rolled his eyes.

I spent the rest of the morning sitting in my bunk reading the _Adventure of Huckleberry Finn_, which my mom had just sent me and I had to hide since it was non-regulation. I glanced up occasionally to watch Eugene run around not knowing what to do to help. My entertainment ended, however, when a Lieutenant Lewis Nixon—looking more than a little hung over himself—strode in.

"Pack up, boys—" he started,

"and Joann!" someone, probably Shifty, cut in.

"—and Joann, we're moving out." He gave a nod and ducked back out the door.

We all just stared at his retreating form and each other until Cobb rolled over and up-chucked onto the floor.

"Well shit."

* * *

_**So yeah, short chapter, sorry :( **_

_**So i have a question. Originally i had planned to go through ALL the training, but that's like two additional chapters about stuff that's not in the show and will probably boring to read. So i could just kind of gloss over it and go more off of the show instead of all the specifics like in the book. So i'll try to shove it all into Charlotte's chapter, and then Joann's can be them on the boat on the way to England. Unless you actually want to see all the boring training stuff. **_

_**Yeah so my dad's cousin's cousin or some distant relative of some sort fixes old cars and trucks, and he had an army transport truck (you know that all the guys sit in with the two benches on either side) and they are really taller than they look. I probably couldn't get up there without help, and i'm 5'10". But yeah, it was cool to see. **_

_**Also, i started a new story (please don't hate me) but i had a lot of Babe feels that needed to be let out, so it's called Letters From Home. Check it out maybe? **_

**_LauRa-ReaDing-XoX: thank you :) I've really tried to convey that Charlie is more motherly, looking over everyone else before herself (which will become very obvious in the way I kill her off but shhh…I won't give anymore hints) so that she will talk more about the other members of the company, and less about her personal feelings. And that Joann, while still nice and caring, is more self-centered. _**

**_Bobfan: Thank you! Yeah if i could just marry the entire cast of BoB that'd be great. And i was bawling by the end of Leave, it was kind of pathetic, but it was so sudden and i actually got mad like "how can they do this to me?" mad. And sorry, this chapter's pretty short too. Thanks for the motivation :) _**

**_Review maybe? :)_**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Charlotte's POV

By this point Winters was the acting XO in charge of leading us in training if Sobel wasn't there. Which thankfully he wasn't. We were practicing house-to-house fighting, which Sobel was bad at. He was probably worse at it then he was out in the field doing maneuvers there.

"Sir? Shouldn't we take up sniper-like positions in the windows? That way we can see them before they see us?" We were doing one exercise where we were defending a position in a "town" against an advancing opponent.

"Yes, Lieutenant Sobel is right. I want all mortars deployed here-" Winters pointed to a spot on his map, "I want first platoon set up in this building, second in this one, and third right here. Any questions?"

"No sir."

"Good, let's get it done." He nodded to each of us before leaving to scout out where the opponent was and decide on any other plans.

"OK, 1st platoon listen up!" I yelled out, gaining my platoon's attention.

"Lieutenant Winters wants mortars deployed from behind that wall there, the rest of us will set up in the building to your left here, we'll be taking on a sniper-like position against the opponent, pin them down before they can reach us and clear out the buildings."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Ok, let's go." I filed the men up into our building, setting up the machine guns from the two third-floor windows, the riflemen taking over the second floor and first floor. And then we sat in to wait.

"I want 50% watch until we make contact." Before my words could be acted on shots were fired from the courtyard. "Don't fire yet." I ran up to the machine guns, telling them to open up when they get the chance, of course we weren't using real ammunition, but we had to act like we were.

Then I ran back down to the riflemen. "Hold your fire for as long as you can, try not to give away our position."

As it was, we were able to pin down our opponent, causing them to draw back, allowing us to "win" the training exercise.

* * *

"Joann, you were offered a promotion to squad leader and sergeant, and you turned it down?!" Joann and I were talking on the way to the mess hall after taking our showers.

"Yep, I didn't think I deserved it, I mean what have I done that's so extraordinary that made me worthy of the promotion?"

"Leading your squad accurately and without hesitation during the training exercises? Don't for once think that Winters hasn't been keeping me up to date on your progress. He's told me that if it weren't for you, the squad wouldn't have the accuracy rating it does."

"Yeah, but I've never had to fully lead the squad, Muck or Don or Bill has been there, they all know what to do."

"So do Joe Toye and Penkala, I'm pretty sure it can be surmised that all of you know what you're doing, and all of you deserve the promotion, but Winters and Sobel have seen it fit that you get it. You should be proud of yourself, not considering denying it. Don't tell me Webster's been rubbing off on you!" I was hoping my pep talk would get to her.

She just sighed. "No, I'm not denying it because I don't believe in the principle of the army like Web, I'm denying it because I don't think I deserve."

"I've been able to talk with some of the other officers, and I know that Winters and Sobel are both strict and, in Sobel's case, ridiculous, so if they think you are worthy of the award, then trust me, you're so worthy of it." She nodded to me, before heading into the mess hall. I shook my head, turning to head back. I wasn't very hungry.

"Hey, Char!" I turned, to see Lew coming down the road from the opposite direction. "Guess who's being sent to Battalion?" He seemed excited.

"You?"

"Yep! I got promoted to Battalion Intelligence!" He showed off his new silver bars.

"Oh! Congratulations!" I jumped up to give him a hug.

"OK, I'm glad you're proud of me, but you're choking me!" He said, prying my arms off.

"Hey maybe when you get promoted you can be transferred with me?"

"Well, it's gonna be a while, I wasn't promoted this rotation. Sobel still wants to talk to me, though."

"Well, let me know how that goes." He said, smiling down at me, "chow?"

"Sure." I still wasn't hungry, but I couldn't turn down Lew.

"So guess who's been made Sobel's new runner?" We were in line now.

"Tipper, right? Because Popeye got lost or whatever."

"Yeah, and Tipper's been helping him lose his maps and compass and everything. I tell you, it's hilarious to watch."

"I'm sure I'll get the chance eventually. I mean, during the wood exercise earlier this week he thought we were lost when we weren't and ended up bringing us right into the enemy."

"Oh yeah, Dick was blowing up about that one."

"Really? I couldn't imagine Dick being mad over anything."

"Yeah, neither could I. But he had some choice words for Sobel when he got back."

"Wow."

"Lieutenant Sobel?" A runner came up to me.

"Yes, Private?"

"Sobel would like to see you in his office."

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute. Dismissed." The Runner ran off, "Well, Lew, duty calls."

"Have fun."  
"I'm sure I will."

It was a short walk over to where Sobel's office was, and surprise, surprise, he wasn't in. So I sat and waited.

"Good you're here; let's go in, I have a few things to discuss with you."

"Yes, sir."

"Lieutenant, you weren't promoted, correct."

"No, sir, I was not."

"The reason behind that is that I didn't think you were ready for it. I don't think you're ready to fully lead your own platoon." I didn't feel the need to remind him that I had been leading 1st platoon for a while, and that it had been doing better than 3rd, but Nix was promoted. So I just hid my grimace.

"As it is, Lieutenant, a new Lieutenant will be coming in to take over 1st, you will be his second-in-command."

"Yes, sir."

"You're dismissed." I saluted before turning on my heel to leave. "Oh and Lieutenant, we're moving out, make sure the platoon leaders know."

"Yes, sir." Great, so now I had to hunt down Winters.

Which actually turned out easier than I thought. He was with Nix, already packed up, in our barrack.

"Oh good, you already knew we were heading out. Sobel made it seem like I was the only one who knew and that I had to tell everybody."

"Yeah, well that's Sobel for you." Winters said.

"Were you guys discussing him before I came in? Sorry for interrupting then, I'm just gonna change real quick. But please continue."

They both looked at me funny, probably wondering what ruffled my feathers. I just ignored their looks, stripping down to my skivvies and tee to put on my Class A's.

"Ey, what are you going to do?" this came from Lew, clearly they were resuming their conversation.

"Nothing just keep training the men."

Another man, and officer, came in, someone I didn't recognize. Luckily I was all dressed, just trying to work out my tie.

"Am I interrupting?" He asked.

"Oh, no," Winters said, "Lieutenant Lewis Nixon, Lieutenant Harry Welsh, just in from the 82nd."

"Congrats on the new promotion."

"Ah thanks, if you want to call it that."

"Hey, Nix, last I checked you were excited for that promotion!" I said, coming from the back of the room. "Can you help with my tie?" Nixon laughed, stepping closer to fix the knot I had created.

"Oh of course, Lieutenant Charlotte Sobel, this is Lieutenant Harry Welsh, he's your new platoon leader."

"Yeah, sorry for meeting you like this," I gestured towards my tie, which was being tightened by Nixon. "I'm your second-in-command according to Captain Sobel."

"Captain Sobel, is he uh, your husband?"

Lew and I looked at each other before bursting out laughing. "Brother." I said, glancing at Winters who just had a tight smile on his face.

Nixon was done with my tie and turned back to Welsh and Winters. "You'll learn him pretty quick," he said, looking at Winters, "no flaws, no vices, no sense of humour,"

"Just like your chums up at battalion staff?" Winters said, and I giggled. Apparently he does have a sense of humour. "What's up?"

"I'm hearing a lot of rumblings." Harry said.

"Sobel? Just talking about him!" Nixon said, glancing at Winters and then me.

"So, he gets a little jumpy in the field?"

"Mhmm, he gets jumpy and then you get killed."

"That's nice."

"Yeah, well, listen, if we discuss this I think it should just be amongst ourselves."

"Please, while you're at it, spare me from these conversations, I hate him too much to think about it."

But then Sobel himself came in, all of us turning around, standing at attention.

"Second platoon ready?" He asked.

"Ready, sir." Winters replied.

"Then get them in formation we're moving out."

"Yes, sir." Winters followed Welsh out, leaving Nixon and I. Sobel decided this was the time to stare down Nixon. A stare which Nixon returned before Sobel left.

Lew turned around with a little laugh to look at me.

"Well, I guess I don't have to do much, I'm not in charge of 1st anymore." Nix gave me one look, seeing right through my attempt to step down from the responsibility.

"Go ahead, Char, I know you want to be out there. Just remember Welsh is in charge, so listen to his orders and run everything you do through him." He glanced at me, "Ah, who am I kidding, I can't give you leadership advice. But seriously, go, I can tell you're itching to."

"Thanks, Lew." I grabbed my pack before leaving, turning back to give him a smile. He just waved me off.

I started ordering the men to load there stuff up on the trucks, glancing at my sister who was sitting with some of the other men, and who had newly sew on chevrons. Guess she decided to take the promotion. I stopped to listen in on their conversation. Who cares if I was eavesdropping. I just made it look like I was checking over my stuff.

"Goddamn, you gotta admit, he's got no chance." Cobb was saying. "Either the Krauts will get him, or one of us."

"Who, Sobel?" Liebgott asked, coming over and sitting with them.

"He screwed up one maneuver," Shifty said.

"In the worst way possible! Are you actually defending the ass?" Joann replied, incredulous.

"Even his own baby sister doesn't like him!" Cobb pointed out.

"Ah you know I'm always fumbling with grenades." Liebgott interjected, "It would be easy for one to go off on accident." He shot Joann a wink.

"Well they must have put him in charge for some reason." Shifty said.

"Yeah, 'cause the Army wouldn't make a mistake, right Shift?" Liebgott said, and I followed his gaze to Lipton, who had paused to look at them.

From the trucks we boarded a train. I chose to sleep for most of the ride. Apparently Welsh had the same idea. So we sat across from each other, me putting my feet up on his chair, his feet up in my lap so that we were overlapping, but could both sleep comfortably. Winters sat down next to Welsh, the chair next to me had Harry and I's stuff. Winters had already stowed his somewhere else. The rocking of the train lulled me to sleep quickly.

I was awoken by our bags being thrown onto me by a Mr. Lieutenant Lewis Nixon. He then sat down in the now-empty seat. I just gave him a look, pushing the bags to the floor, before going back to sleep. Him and Winters were talking, and I didn't want to interrupt.

But it was short lived, as I was awoken when Harry shifted, himself now awake.

"Morning," Lew said from next to me, his arm around my shoulders along the back of the chair. He passed his flask to Harry.

"Well, this could turn into a real nice trip." He said, taking a sip. I yawned, readjusting myself so that I was leaning against the side of the train, my feet in Lew's lap and Harry's still in mine.

"Wake me up when we get there."

"Only if my uniform doesn't get dirty from your boots." Lew said, playing with the laces.

"If you dare untie my laces, or retie them in any way, I will shoot you."

"I wouldn't for one minute doubt you."

* * *

_**So, super long chapter. If only i had this much motivation to do my homework! I hope you all like it, I'm honestly not a huge fan of it. The writing seems pretty crappy to me, but i'm probably just being over critical. OK, so review responses: **_

_**LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX: Hope this didn't disappoint, I tried to add more Joann/Charlie time for ya. I think though, that since Charlie's had to kind of act older all her life, she feels responsible for Joann more than she feels like a twin sister. Which is why they're not super close or anything. But yeah, next chapter will be Joann's experience on the train and then the boat. I already have it written, so i think i'll just add it write after i add this! so there ya go two chapters in one day because i'm procrastinating doing real work! **_

_**Please review! They're better than coffee to me, and i pretty much live off of coffee! **_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Joann's POV

"Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sleeping." I said, plopping down and curling up into a ball the minute I got on the train.

"Suit yourself," Muck replied, sitting next to me. And then I was out like a light.

"So where do you think we're headed Skip?" Someone, it sounded like Malarkey, asked, awakening me from my slumber.

"Ah hell, I don't know Don. The moon." I giggled, turning to the side to face them.

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty!" Skip joked.

"What a fucking fairytale I'm living." I grumbled.

"Well someone's grumpy in the morning." Liebgott added, stepping over Malark's legs to sit across from me.

"Shut up." I curled back into a ball, attempting to fall asleep again.

"So rumour is we're heading to England." Liebgott said, turning to Muck.

"Yeah well that's great. I also hear rumours that we're headed to California, so until we get an official word I couldn't give a crap." Skip said, obviously irritated. They continued talking, and I nodded off again.

I awoke a few hours later to someone poking my cheek.

"Time to wake up, princess." Skip said with a huge shit-eating grin.

"Five more minutes, mom!" I called out, overly dramatizing my pain in waking up.

"Nope, we're moving out. So unless you want to go AWOL and stay behind…"

* * *

We were boarded on a large ship in the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard. From the deck we watched the Statue of Liberty, hands gripping the rails. For most, the Statue of Liberty was the first thing they saw upon entering the country; but for us it was the last. Like immigrants we were being shipped off to a new land, and unsure of what to expect.

The room we were bunked in was beyond crowded—rows of stacked bunks were separated by a few feet of walking space.

I came back from the latrines to see a tangle of men.

"What's going on here?" I asked Perconte, who was standing on the edge of the fray.

"Bill called Sobel a Jew, and Liebgott took offence because he's also a Jew. Hey—where're you going?"

I climbed up on the bunks, and then over so I was above the fight.

"Hey!" I shouted in the most commanding voice I could muster. "Cut it out!"

Lieb continued fighting, but started talking towards me, "this prick called Sobel—your brother—a Son of Abraham."

"So? It's true. Why the fuck are you fighting over religion?"

With one last "fuck" and a push, Liebgott stepped away and got back to his bunk, lighting a cigarette. I got down from my perch and got into my own bunk, which was directly below his.

"Mommy, tell me a story." Don joked, giving me a look.

"Yeah tell us a story, Princess!" This came from Skip.

"Alright, alright. So when I was seven, and Herbert was 12 we used to pretend we were adventurers. Well more like he led the adventure, and I was one of the men he took along his expeditions."

"What a selfish prick," Toye muttered.

"Hey, don't interrupt." Don shushed Joe, before looking back at me, "continue."

"Well, Charlie was always busy working or something, even when we were little, so she'd never join us. Anyways, we lived in a Jewish inner-city neighborhood, so there wasn't any forests or anything to explore. Mostly we just climbed up the fire escapes to get to the roofs of buildings. Most of the fire escapes went all the way up to the roof, so this was no problem. There was one building, just down the alleyway next to our building, that had a fire escape that only went up to the top story windows. Now Herbert would jump up onto the ledge and pull himself over, but I was always too afraid to. Every time he'd try to convince me it was nothing, to jump and he'd help me up. But every time I was afraid I'd fall backwards over the railing and down to my death in the streets. I mean, I'm afraid of heights and falling, and this just combined the two and—"

"Wait, hold up, you're afraid of heights and falling, but you decided to join the paratroopers. We literally fall out of an airplane at 1500 feet." Liebgott pointed out, flipping over the bottom of his bunk to peer at me.

I stole his cigarette. "That's with a parachute, it's different."

"Jesus." He rolled his eyes, ignoring his now missing cigarette.

"As I was saying, I was too scared to jump up, so Herbert would explore the roof without me, and then report back with his findings. One day, however, he pushed me up first, holding me up so that I wouldn't be scared, and then jumped up himself. That roof was like any ordinary Chicago roof—chimneys and pigeons. And after all the excitement and anticipation it was a complete and utter disappointment." I finished.

"Jesus, tell a happy tale for once." Don commented.

"Seriously, you asked the most sadistic person you know—except maybe Bill or Luz—to tell a story, and you expected it to be happy? Donald Malarkey you are an idiot."

"Hey, at least now we know Sobel has a heart." Tab pointed out, "buried deep within."

"Hey maybe his leather jacket keeps it hidden." Muck added.

"Nah, whatever heart he had is gone now, got it whipped out of him at boarding school." I said.

"Hey Joann, did you go to boarding school?" Lieb asked.

"Nah, Public School all the way. I figured I turned fine none-the-less."

"Yeah, you're a hundred times better than your brother." George said.

"George was that a compliment?"

"Nah, a hundred times zero is still zero."

"Hey guys, contrary to popular belief, George does have a brain!"

"You laugh, but remember I'll be the one calling you a jeep when you get your stupid ass shot up."

We continued joking late into the night, none of us able to sleep in the heat and smoke that hung in the room like bricks don't.

* * *

_**I know, it's short, but I think its pretty light and funny. Most of you will probably recognize it from my earlier story with Joann, so sorry about that. But i really liked this scene, and i enjoyed writing it so i decided to keep it. **_

_**Anyways, please review, they make me all tingly inside. Like seriously, I want to hug every single person who has ever reviewed! Although i'm a terrible hugger, so maybe you don't want that...**_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Charlotte's POV

Aldbourne, England was a fairly beautiful place. Well more than fairly. It was amazing. Of course the boys appreciated it for more than the scenery. Here they had girls, booze, and freedom. Well, maybe not as much freedom as they'd like. There was still tons of training during the week, but nights and weekends were open for them to party and drink as much as they liked.

I had to teach courses on chemical warfare and how to dig foxholes. Or actually, I had to teach Lipton about foxholes so that he could teach the men. But the chemical warfare was all on me.

"So you ready for the men?" Nixon asked, entering the hall and wandering up to the posters the army had sent me about various gases.

"Yeah, I'll tell them about it, and then they can view the posters if they'd like. I was just going to keep it simple."

"Yeah, yeah, sounds like a plan." He responded, distractedly looking at the posters.

By then men started filing in and I had to start.

"Alright listen up," I waited for it to be quiet, "chemical warfare was prohibited by the Geneva protocol, but the higher-ups still want you to be informed about it in case something happens.

"So, I've got four posters sent to me by a bunch of stuffy officers that have details about the different gases, I'll go over them briefly, and then I'll let you look them over on your own. Sound like a plan?" Most of the men nodded their heads, "Ok, so, phosgene, lewisite, mustard gas, and chlorpicrin are the four gases you'll need to watch out for. Of these, three were used in the Great War, and we all know how that went." I continued my talk, going over what each of the gases looked and smelt like, and what the effects were. "Now, despite these warnings, you will not be issued gas masks, and won't be wearing anything more protective than your OD's, which for most of the gases, won't block anything. So, if you do notice something off about the smell of the area, immediately alert an officer, ok. And we'll try to get you out of there. Especially if it smells like musty hay. As you now know, that means it's phosgene, which killed the most people in the Great War. So, any questions before I give you free reign to come up and take a look at these posters?"

"Lieutenant?" Bull asked, "Should we expect to be gassed?"

The question threw me off. I wanted to be able to tell them 100% that they'd be fine—at least from the gas—but I couldn't guarantee them that.

"To be honest, Randleman, I'm not entirely sure what we should expect."

But that was this whole war: unexpected.

* * *

Joann's POV

We were staying in Aldbourne, England. The higher-ups had us run through countless training exercises in preparation for the war.

England was nice in September. In fact, I was admiring the weather when I fell. The fall was only a few feet down the stairs, but it was enough to make my knee turn in a way that knees should not turn. Luckily for me, Malarkey was walking by and saw me lying on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Christ, Jo, how did ya manage that?" He asked, pointing to my knee.

"Fell down these here stairs, you know, with my usual clumsiness. Will you help me up?"

"Yeah let's get you to Doc Roe."

* * *

"Looks like you dislocated it, might have torn somethin', can't really tell. I'm gonna have to pop it back into place."

I grimaced, awaiting the pain that would come "AH! MOTHER FU-" I screamed. It hurt. A lot.

"Alright, I'm gonna put a splint on it. You're not to do anything for a couple days, and after that I want you to keep the splint on and take it easy."

As it were, my injury prevented me from being on the marvelous field exercise George Luz called "The Day of the Lost Captain." Except he was lost all the time, so this could apply to many different days.

"And he starts patting himself down and turned in a circle like a dog chasing its tail looking for his wire cutters." Muck was telling me the story from my bed in the makeshift hospital. "And then we finally get to the crossroad and Sobel's screaming 'HI-YO SILVER!' and Winters just had this look, you should have been there, Jo."

"I wish I was Skip, I wish I was. Being stuck here is so boring and pointless, I'd rather be training with you guys. "

"Nah, wouldn't want you hurting yourself even more. I gotta go, don't want to miss chow. When's Roe letting you out?"

"Well, it's been two days, so I'm breaking out tomorrow, whether he likes it or not." I gave Skip a wink as he patted my shoulder goodbye.

Doc Roe obviously realized my frustration and let me out later that night. It hurt to walk, and it was impossible to run, but I was tired of feeling useless.

The training continued. Marches, hand-to-hand combat lessons, classroom lessons, you name it, we did it. I ran despite the excruciating pain and warning looks from Roe. A few weeks passed before we heard really bad news. I mean really horrible.

"We lost Winters to Battalion Mess." Ranney came in with the news.

"You're shitting me." This came from Tab. I was hanging out with the other NCOs in our barn. "Private Sobel?" Evans ventured in.

"Yes Sir."

"Captain Sobel wishes to speak to you." I nodded and watched Evans leave.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I nodded a goodbye as the others continued their conversation about Winters.

I entered the Company Office, "Sir?" At Captain Sobel's nod I entered the room.

"Private, I'm noticing that you are acting too comfortable with the men." He said, not even looking up from his paperwork.

"I don't understand sir."

"Private, I believe that you are distracting the men from their duty."

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Denied." I tried not to show my anger and discomfort. "There is a wonderful opportunity for you to join the Women's Army Corps as a Lieutenant. I think you will be better suited there."

"Sir, no disrespect sir, but I've already trained with Easy Company and the 506th. I see no reason to switch to the WAC when I've already undergone training here. I'm a part of this company, sir, and I've earned my jump wings already." I tried to convince him not to transfer me.

"Your behavior is of concern here, not your training, Private."

"To be frank sir, I'd rather be Court Martialed for my behavior than transferred to the Women's Corps."

"So be it."

* * *

_**Hey! Guess who's back? I would have an excuse, but i don't, i'm just lazy. **_

_**So classes started, which means that I'm only going to be able to update on FRIDAYS for this story (SUNDAYS for my other story) sorry:( **_

_**thanks for all the reviews, i'm too lazy and tired to do responses. but please do review again, maybe i'll respond. and really reviews are like nutella to me, keeping me sane while i try to figure out calc. **_

_**Love you all, thanks for reading :) **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**So in the last chapter, i kept referring to Joann as Private, but she's actually a sergeant, so my apologies for that! I wrote that chapter before i decided to promote her, and forgot to change it! **_

Chapter 11

I was with Dick and Lew when Dick got the notice.

"With Captain Sobel's compliments, sir." Evans gave Dick a folded piece of paper, "Lieutenants." He nodded and saluted us before leaving.

I looked at Lew with an eyebrow raised, he just shrugged and looked down at the now unfolded piece of paper. I read it over.

"Company E, 506th PIR, 30 Oct. '43

Subject: Punishment under 104th AW

To: 1st Lt. R.D. Winters

You will indicate by indorsement below whether you desire punishment under 104th AW or trial by Courts Marshial for failure to inspect the latrine at 0945 this date as instructed by me.

Herbert M. Sobel, Capt. Commanding.

"Oh for crying out loud," Dick whispered.

"He misspelt Court Martial." Lew pointed out.

"And endorsement." I added. Dick re-folded the note and walked off to headquarters.

"What are you going to do?" I asked Lew as he stubbed out his cigarette.

"No clue." He pushed himself off the fence he was leaning on and stormed off. I followed him, afraid he would lose his temper.

"Lew! Please. Hey!" I pulled him back by the shoulder.

"Get off me!"

"Lew, going in there and shouting at some officer isn't going to do anybody, least of all Dick, any good!" Nix just sighed. "Now let's rationally think of a way to get Dick out of this mess, ok? There has to be a loophole somewhere."

"Yeah, I suppose your right." Much to my surprise Lew gave me a hug, right in front of a few of the men. I just froze up, my arms pinned at my sides. "At least act like you're enjoying this." Lew joked, his laugh vibrating against my chest.

"Yeah, sorry." I was able to move my arms again, bringing them up to hug him back.

Lew pulled back, "I better start reading through old manuals. See you around."

I nodded, watching him leave.

"What was that, Lieutenant?" One of the men chided.

"Not now, Perco." I turned towards the four men playing basketball. "Randleman, try not to trip over little Perconte, you hear me?" I joked.

"Yes ma'am." He responded with his drawl and characteristic smile.

I nodded at them all before walking back to the house I was barracked in with Joann.

* * *

"HE SAID WHAT?"

"You are making this into a much bigger deal than necessary. He just told me I was getting too close to the men, and that he thought I'd be better off in the WAC. I told him no, and he said he would court martial me for my behaviour. I said ok." Joann responded to my outburst.

"First Dick, now you, and the NCOs are rebelling!" That got Joann's attention.

"Wait, what happened with Dick?"

"He's being Court Martialed as well."

"Wow. Really?"

"Yeah. Before too much longer, Captain Sobel will have the whole company under Courts Martial."

"No he won't." Joann gave me a smile, as if she knew something I didn't.

"What?"

"After all the NCOs rebelled, Colonel Sink had a talk with him. He's being moved to Chilton Foliat."

"How do you know this and not me?" I asked her.

"You were too busy freaking over Dick, you missed the bigger picture."

"I have to go." I ran off without her goodbye. I had to find Lew.

Everyone in Aldbourne was probably surprised to see a girl in uniform running wildly through the camp, but I had to get to Lew and make sure he knew the news.

I found him and Dick in the house they were staying at.

"Dick! Have you heard?" Before he could answer I was running up the stairs.

"Heard what?" He called after me, "Charlie?"

"Lew!" I ran into him at the top of the stairs, and this time I was the one to initiate the hug.

"I thought I heard a hysterical mouse." Nix responded, his chuckle vibrating throughout his entire body.

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what? About Sobel? Yeah." He pulled out of the hug, "that reminds me. I have a surprise for you." He pulled something out of his pockets. "Guess who's no longer a butter bar?"

"I'm being promoted?"

"Yeah, you were supposed to be back around Mackall, but Sobel withheld it, so it's just now going through."

"Wow." Lew pinned the bars onto my collar and hat.

"And, you're being moved to battalion intelligence with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they didn't want a power struggle between you and Harry. I don't think the two of you would have had a problem, but they're being overly conscious after this whole Sobel/Dick thing."

"Can I go brag now?"

"Yeah, I suppose you can." He gave me a salute and a smile—which I returned—before running off to tell Joann and the boys.

* * *

_**On a scale of 1 to my World history class, how much do i hate this chapter? My calc class. **_

_**No but seriously, i am so not happy with this chapter at all. It's short and disjointed and just poorly written. **_

_**Also, i mixed up what days i would update what story, so sorry it's late. From now on just expect an update at some point during the weekend, rather than a specific day. **_

_**Review Responses: **_

_**BoBfan: yeah, well now i get to use writing this fanfiction as an excuse for procrastinating doing physics labs, so :) And yes, Millionaire Tour is probably my favorite movie ever. **_

_** Curraheeee: Thank you :) Sorry for the absence of Liebgott in the last few chapters, he does make an appearance next chapter, so yah! :) My other story is called "Letter from Home" its a Babe/OC and in a totally different style than this one. I would love if you checked it out and let me know what you think :) **_

_**LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX: Thanks! Hope this didn't disappoint too much! **_

_**Please do review, they'll help me get over the panic attack i had in Spanish two days ago (it was embarrassing and kinda scary because it wasn't like any of the other panic attacks i've had so ahhhh) **_

_**:) **_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 12

Joann's POV

We were all celebrating Sobel's leave the way he would have wanted us not to—going to the pub and getting roaring drunk.

"Hey Malark, you got a deck of cards?" Bill asked, pulling out the chair next to me. Malark, who was sitting across from me and listening to some story Muck was telling, absent-mindedly pulled the deck from his pocket and tossed them to Bill.

"What are you going to play?" I asked.

"I," Bill started, shuffling the cards, "am going to properly teach you how to play poker, so that you no longer get pushed around by the guys."

"It's a random time for you to be doing this, what happened that makes this necessary?" I asked, surprised over the suddenness of his actions.

"Nothin', don't worry about it."

"No. What happened? I haven't seen you this wound up in ages."

Bill sighed. "Some Fox company boys were poking fun at how easy it would be to take advantage of you. So I figured that if I was with you, they wouldn't try nothin'."

"I can take care of myself, Bill, you know that right?"

"Just, humour me, ok? That and you seriously need to learn how to play poker."

"Alright, where did you plan on starting?"

* * *

"Hey, Joann, come dance with me!" Grant called out, beckoning me with his goofy smile.

"The locals not giving you the time of day, Chuck?"

"Of course they are, I just figured I should spend some time with my favorite Easy Company girl." He winked.

"I'm the only Easy Company girl. My sister got moved to battalion"

"I didn't mean her, I was talking about Skinny." We both chuckled.

"Oh, really? And what would Skinny think if I told him you called him a girl?"

"You wouldn't dare." Skinny and Grant had an ongoing competition that was pretty much a "who could annoy the other more" contest.

"I would, and then you would wake up with garden snakes in your boots."

Before he could respond, Alley came up and took over dancing with me.

"Why, the natives must really not be biting if the grand James Alley is dancing with poor little me."

"Ah, shove it, you should be glad to have the pleasure of dancing with me."

"I should?" I asked as I pushed away and walked to the bar, shooting Alley a wink and a smile to show I was joking before ordering another beer.

* * *

"And so then, some big general came over and started watching, but this time, none of our hits missed." Malarkey was telling some story to the machine gunners. I, having been there originally, and now, after hearing it a thousand times, was tired of the story. But I nodded and laughed at all the right places, just to appease him.

"Hey Jo," Liebgott leaned in from his spot by my side, "wanna play darts?"

"01? Starting 301, 1 pack?" I set the stakes.

"You're on."

I lost, but barely. Definitely only by a little bit. OK, I lost by a lot. But that's not the point.

"Hey, I've got a brand new back in the barracks, and I was thinking of turning in anyways, so I'll dig em' out and hide them under your pillow, ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Lieb smiled up at me from his seat at one of the tables, a beer in his hand.

"Bye, boys, see you all tomorrow." I waved to the men sitting around various tables.

"Bye, Jo." A few called back, most carried on their conversations and drinking.

"Oh, right! Hey! Jo! Let me walk you back, yeah?" Lieb jumped up from his seat, nearly knocking over Webster.

"Yeah, sure."

It was a short walk back to base, and to our barracks. I dug out the pack of cigarettes from my foot locker, and walked over to where Joe was taking off his boots and jacket to hand them to him. Joe stood up really fast when I got near him.

"Here you go, but know that I plan on winning them back tomorrow."

"Of course you are." He winked, giving me his cheeky smile as he let his fingers linger on mine before taking the pack and tossing it on the bed.

"Hey, Jo, can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Can I kiss you?"

"What?" My stomach was tied in knots, and my heart was beating really fast. Did he just ask that?

He took a step closer to me. "Can I kiss you? Because I'd really like to."

I looked up in his brown eyes. I could have sworn my heart was going to beat right out my chest. I hadn't been this nervous since I had to give a speech in front of my entire school in 11th grade.

Not trusting my voice, I just nodded.

He took another step, raising his hand to my cheek, tucking a stray hair back behind my ear. _How cliché, _I thought.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion, his lips on mine, soft and warm. His hands now on my waist, mine find their way up to his shoulders. Then more passion, as his tongue prodded by lips in request for entrance. But I pulled away, not wanting to open my eyes, not wanting to have this just be a dream. Joe can't like me like _that. _No, I was just supposed to have a senseless crush and nothing was to come of it, because soon we'd be going off to war and…

"I can't do this, Joe, I'm sorry." I couldn't raise my eyes to look at him, but suddenly I was aware of the absence of his hands on my waist, "but, we're going to invade Europe probably soon, and what if something happens to you, to me?"

"Then we'll die knowing we were loved by each other. Besides, nothing's going to happen to us. After everything Sobel put us through?"

"We're not invincible, Joe, the Germans have guns and mortars and tanks, and…" by now I had worked myself into hysteria.

"Shh, Joann, it'll all be ok, I promise." Lieb pulled me into him, hugging me as tight as he could, mostly to comfort me, but also to hide his own worried expression and the thoughts behind it.

* * *

_**Guess who finally decided to update after like... what? 4 weeks? Yeah... sorry 'bout that. It was mostly motivation issues. **_

_**Oh! yes! so something finally happens between these two? Unfortunately, this will be all for a while, because she is right-there is a war going on! **_

_**So please review? I'll give you ice cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles and yumminess, yeah? :) **_


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